Message   of   President 
Robert  R.  McCormick 


1907 


Sanitary  District 
of  Chicago 


MESSAGE 


OF 


PRESIDENT  ROBERT  R.  McCORMICK 


Sanitary  District  of  Chicago 


1907 


1907 
Board  of  Trustees 


WILLIAM  H.  BAKER  THOMAS  J.  HEALY 

ADOLPH  BERGMAN  ROBERT  R.  McCoRMiCK 

WALLACE  G.  CLARK  OTTO  J.  NOVAK 

HENRY  F.  EIDMANN  GEORGE  W.  PAULLIN 

EDWARD  I.  WILLIAMS 


Officers 


ROBERT  R.  McCoRMiCK  ISAAC  J.   BRYAN 

President  Clerk 

GEORGE  M.  WISNER 
Chief  Engineer 

CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON  JOHN  C.  WILLIAMS 

Treasurer  Attorney 


EDWARD  B.  ELLICOTT  HOYT  KING 

Electrical  Engineer  Dock  and  Land  Rentals 


Offices,   American  Trust  Building 
Chicago 


President's  Annual  Message. 


CHICAGO,  December  31,  1907. 

To  the  Honorable,    the  Board  of    Trustees  of  the  Sanitary   District  of 
Chicago. 

GENTLEMEN — In  accordance  with  custom  of  long  standing,  I  here- 
with transmit  the  annual  message  of  the  President  of  the  Board,  re- 
viewing the  work  of  the  past  year  and  making  recommendations  for 
future  action. 

Our  activities  covered  a  broad  and  varied  ground.  They  included 
construction  on  a  larger  scale  than  any  in  America,  excepting  the  Pan- 
ama Canal,  the  installation  of  an  enormous  electric  plant,  the  con- 
struction of  complicated  bridges ;  they  involved  the  preparation  for  fu- 
ture work,  from  the  laying  out  of  plans  on  a  grand  scale,  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  minute  specifications ;  they  involved  the  study  of  many  pend- 
ing law  suits  and  the  avoidance  of  several  prospective  ones. 

Not  less  important,  and  indeed  more  exhausting  than  any  of  these, 
were  the  many  negotiations  with  other  governing  bodies.  Of  these  the 
Sanitary  District  of  Chicago,  because  of  its  status,  unique  in  municipal 
history,  has  had  many  which  have  been  brought  into  vigorous  issue  dur- 
ing the  past  year.  Organized  apparently  as  a  municipal  corporation  for 
the  construction  of  a  canal,  it  has  found  its  existence  threatened  by  the 
city  which  it  was  formed  to  preserve — by  other  cities  whose  great  bene- 
factor it  has  been — by  the  state  which  created  it—by  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri— by  the  national  government  of  the  United  States,  and  even  in  a 
measure,  by  the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain.  Many  of  these  issues  have 
come  and  gone,  and  it  is  only  those  which  were  settled  in  the  past  year 
and  which  are  still  before  your  Board,  to  which  I  will  refer. 

CALUMET     CHANNEL. 

Beginning  first  with  the  controversy  between  the  Sanitary  District 
and  a  branch  of  the  Federal  Government,  in  relation  to  the  Calumet 
cut-off,  I  will  make  a  concise  statement  of  the  situation:  The  Legis- 
lature of  1903  passed  the  so-called  Annexation  Act,  which  provided 
for  the  annexation  of  territories  on  the  north  as  far  as  the  northern 
limits  of  Cook  County,  and  to  the  south  as  far  as  Phoenix,  and  pro- 

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vided  that  the  Sanitary  District  should  thereupon  construct  canals  to 
drain  the  added  territories  and  that  these  canals  should  be  built  to 
carry  the  same  proportion  of  diluting  water  as  does  the  main  Drain- 
age Canal. 

TMs  act  was  framed  to  prevent  the  pollution  of  the  waters  of  Lake 
Michigan  by  the  sewage  of  the  north  shore  and  Calumet  river.  The 
expert  commissions  of  1887  and  1897  suggested  generally  the  plans 
adopted  in  the  acts  of  1903,  but  the  plan  adopted  in  the  act  of  1903  owes 
its  existence  not  so  much  to  the  designs  of  men  as  to  the  misdesigns  of 
men.  For  the  engineers  who  laid  out  the  main  channel  erred  in  their 
calculations  and  built  a  canal  the  southern  half  of  which  was  of 
greater  capacity  than  they  had  estimated  and  of  greater  capacity  than 
the  rest  of  the  channel.  Taking  advantage  of  this  situation,  the  fram- 
ers  of  the  law  of  1903  planned  that  the  Calumet  District  should  be 
drained  by  a  canal  running  from  the  Calumet  river  into  the  southern 
end  of  the  Drainage  Canal.  The  bill  was  passed  by  the  Legislature, 
and  received  the  approval  of  the  Governor.  Under  the  terms  of  this 
law,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Sanitary  District  to 
build  drainage  canals  in  the  north  shore  and  south  shore  territories. 
Furthermore,  under  the  law  there  is  given  no  authority  to  the  Trustees 
to  drain  the  added  territories  by  any  other  means  than  by  canal. 

A  general  design  for  the  two  canals  had  been  made  prior  to  the 
election  of  1905.  Soon  after  that  election,  at  which  seven  of  the  pres- 
ent Trustees  were  elected,  a  body  of  men  known  as  the  International 
Waterways  Commission,  made  a  report  to  the  governments  of  Canada 
and  the  United  States  upon  means  to  be  adopted  for  the  preservation 
of  the  beauty  of  Niagara  Falls.  This  commission  reported  that  a  flow 
of  30,000  cubic  feet  of  water  a  second  should  be  allowed  to  certain 
water  power  companies  for  their  profit  and  10,000  cubic  feet  a  second 
allowed  to  the  City  of  Chicago  for  the  preservation  of  its  health. 

In  preparing  this  report,  the  commission  made  Buffalo  and  Mon- 
treal its  headquarters  and  never  came  to  Chicago,  nor  gave  any  atten- 
tion to  the  plans  adopted  by  the  Illinois  Legislature  for  the  health  of 
this  state. 

Upon  hearing  of  the  decision  of  this  commission,  the  Chief  Engi- 
neer of  the  Sanitary  District,  by  authority  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,. 
sent  to  General  Ernst  the  following  letter: 

"  CHICAGO,  March  27,  1906. 

Col.  O.  H.  Ernst,  Member  International  Waterways  Commission,  Mills 

Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 

MY  DKAR  COLONEL — I  saw  a  report  in  one  of  Saturday's  papers  to 
the  effect  that  your  Board  would  recommend  that  a  limit  be  set  for 
the  amount  of  water  to  be  drawn  from  Lake  Michigan  by  the  Sani- 


tary  District  and  that  that  limit  be  made  10,000  cubic  feet  per  second. 
Such  a  limit  would  be  a  serious  matter  as  affecting-  the  future  work  of 
the  District,  as  you  know  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Board  to  reverse 
the  flow  of  the  Calumet  river  and  to  bring1  in  from  that  source  about 
225,000  cubic  feet  of  water  per  minute,  which  seems  to  be  the  amount 
necessary  for  the  dilution  of  that  stream.  Has  your  Board  gone  so 
far  in  this  matter  that  it  cannot  reverse  its  findings  and  raise  the  limit 
to  14,000  cubic  feet  per  second?  I  would  like  to  have  some  sugges- 
tions from  you  as  to  what  had  best  be  done  to  meet  our  prospective 
needs.  Would  it  do  any  good  for  me  to  come  on  to  Washington  in 
this  connection? 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  ISHAM  RANDOLPH, 

Chief  Engineer." 
to  which  he  received  the  following  reply : 

"INTERNATIONAL  WATERWAYS  COMMISSION. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  29,  1906. 

Isham  Randolph,  Chief  Engineer,  Sanitary  District  of  Chicago,  Security 

Building,  Chicago,  III. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  have  your  letter  of  the  27th  instant.  Yes,  the 
American  section  of  the  International  Waterways  Commission  has 
recommended  to  Congress  that  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  taken  out 
through  the  Chicago  Drainage  Canal  be  limited  to  10,000  cubic  feet  per 
second.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  prospect  of  its  reversing  itself  upon 
that  point.  It  would  be  impossible,  I  suppose,  to  adjust  that  quantity 
between  the  Calumet  and  the  Chicago  rivers  so  as  to  meet  the  neces- 
sities of  drainage. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  O.  H.  ERNST, 

Colonel  Corps  of  Engineers,   Chairman  of  American  Section,  Interna- 
tional Waterways  Commission." 

The  report  of  the  Commission  was  presented  to  Congress  and  to 
the  Senate  for  the  enactment  of  laws  and  of  treaties  to  carry  out  its 
recommendation.  Your  Board  sent  its  President  and  Chief  Engineer 
to  represent  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  the  situation  in  which 
it  would  place  the  drainage  plans  of  Chicago  and  Illinois,  if  adopted, 
and  the  section  with  reference  to  limiting  the  flow  for  domestic  pur- 
poses was  stricken  from  the  bill. 

The  International  Waterways  Commission,  now  avowedly  hostile 
to  the  Calumet  project,  continued  its  meetings  in  Buffalo  and  Montreal 
and  even  made  a  hurried  trip  to  Chicago,  where  it  held  a  public  hear- 
ing, but  it  did  not  make  a  study  of  local  conditions. 

In  view  of  the  steps  taken  to  cause  federal  interference  with  the 
project  of  the  Calumet  canal,  and  remembering  the  difficulty  with 
which  permission  was  obtained  for  opening  the  Drainage  Canal  in  1900, 


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it  appeared  necessary  to  your  Board  to  have  its  position  with  reference 
to  the  Federal  Government  denned.  Thereupon  it  applied  to  the  Sec-* 
retary  of  War  for  a  permit  to  reverse  the  flow  of  the  Calumet  river  and 
asked  for  an  immediate  hearing  upon  the  request.  The  hearing  was 
delayed  at  the  request  of  General  Ernst,  made  December  12,  1906,  in  a 
letter  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract: 

"I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  the  most  important  interests  adverse 
to  such  diversion  will  not  be  ready  to  be  heard  at  the  date  named.  The 
important  interests  referred  to  are  the  navigation  interests  of  the  Great 
Lakes  system  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley.  These  interests  are  made 
anxious  and  uneasy  by  the  diversion  of  large  volumes  of  water  from 
the  southerly  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  but  they  are  not  armed  with  the 
facts  necessary  to  offer  an  effective  opposition  thereto.  The  International 
Wlaterways  Commission  has  been  engaged  for  some  time  in  the  collec- 
tion of  all  the  facts,  and  will  at  an  early  date  present  them  in  a  report." 

The  hearing  took  place  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  War  January 
14,  1907.  Opposition  was  voiced  by  the  Lake  Carriers'  Association,  but  no 
reasons  were  given  other  than  those  made  by  the  International  Water- 
ways Commission,  whose  report  is  a  published  matter  and  too  bulky 
to  be  herein  included.  After  deliberation,  the  Secretary  of  War  in- 
formed your  Board  that  the  Chief  of  Engineers  recommended  against 
the  permit  and  that  he  had  no  power  to  overrule  the  Chief  of  Engi- 
neers' decision. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  of  your  Board,  the  decision  of  the 
Chief  of  Engineers  and  of  the  Secretary  of  War  was  not  binding  un- 
less the  facts  warranted  their  decision,  and  the  engineers  of  the  Sani- 
tary District  were  positive  that  the  facts  did  not.  The  matter  then 
being  one  of  fact  between  engineers  and  of  law  between  lawyers,  it  be- 
came necessary  to  have  it  adjudicated  in  court.  The  matter  was  pre- 
sented to  Governor  Deneen  of  Illinois  and  he  was  asked  to  go  to 
Washington  with  the  representatives  of  the  Sanitary  District  and  ask 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  institute  legal  proceedings  through  which  the 
entire  matter  might  be  settled,  to  the  end  that  the  local  authorities  and 
people  at  home  might  know  whether  the  plan  laid  down  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  Illinois  could  or  could  not  be  put  into  effect. 

The  Secretary  readily  consented  and  the  necessary  lengthy  pre- 
parations are  now  being  made.  During  the  summer  of  1907,  it  ap- 
peared advisable  to  your  Board  to  obtain  the  views  of  a  sanitary  expert 
who  had  no  interest  in  the  controversy  and  whose  opinion  might  be 
more  unprejudiced  than  that  of  the  engineers  of  the  Sanitary  District. 
Looking  over  the  field,  it  became  apparent  that  Mr.  Rudolph  Hering, 
C.  E.  D.  Sc.,  stood  preeminent  in  his  profession  as  a  sanitary  engineer, 
and  his  employment  was  decided  upon,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
he  had  previously  been  in  the  employment  of  the  International  Water- 


ways  Commission,  and  that  some  estimates  of  his  had  been  used  in  its 
adverse  report.  Mr.  Hering's  report  is  a  lengthy  document,  already 
published,  so  I  merely  quote  his  conclusions,  which  are  as  follows: 

"After  carefully  weighing  all  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
the  two  propositions,  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  proposed  Calumet- Sag 
Canal  is  not  only  the  more  economical  one  for  disposing  of  the  sewage 
of  the  Calumet  region,  but  that  it  has  still  other  advantages  of  more  or 
less  weight." 

The  situation  then  is  this,  that  by  Act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
the  Calumet  District  was  annexed  and  upon  it  imposed  the  Sanitarv 
District  tax,  and  there  was  imposed  upon  the  Trustees  of  the  Sanitary 
District  the  duty  of  digging  a  canal  to  drain  the  Calumet  territory ; 
that  the  Secretary  of  War,  acting  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
Chief  of  Engineers  under  the  commerce  clause  of  the  Constitution  and 
of  the  Act  of  1899,  on  interstate  commerce,  has  refused  to  allow  the 
Trustees  of  the  Sanitary  District  of  Chicago  to  build  this  canal  and 
the  question  is  now  about  to  be  submitted  to  the  United  States  courts 
for  decision.  The  question  is  an  exceedingly  complicated  one,  involv- 
ing the  most  expert  knowledge  on  sanitary  and  hydraulic  matters  and 
of  constitutional  law.  Nor  has  the  situation  been  helped  by  a  few  real 
estate  speculators  along  the  Chicago  and  Calumet  rivers  who  have 
walked  into  the  controversy,  each  desirous  that  the  work  be  done,  not 
in  a  way  to  benefit  the  general  taxpayers,  but  in  a  way  to  create  benefit 
for  his  private  purse.  The  conduct  of  these  men  has  been  intemperate 
and  immoral  in  the  extreme  and  can  bring  no  good  to  any  one. 

STATE  LEGISLATION. 

As  stated  at  the  beginning  of  this  message,  the  Sanitary  District 
of  Chicago  is  a  municipality  organized  for  a  purpose  hitherto  unknown 
to  municipal  law.  It  is  therefore  natural  that  many  parts  of  its  char- 
ter are  imperfect,  and  some  positively  bad.  In  my  last  message  to 
your  Board  I  recommended  several  changes  in  the  existing  law  in  or- 
der to  permit  the  object  of  the  District  to  be  more  economically  and 
speedily  obtained.  The  first,  in  regard  to  revenue,  is  one  which  will 
not  be  understood  by  any  person  ignorant  of  the  law  of  the  Sanitarv 
District.  Concisely  stated,  it  is  that  the  Sanitary  District  must  do  a 
given  amount  of  work  in  a  given  amount  of  time  or  a  mandamus  will 
issue  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  ordering  the  Board  to  do  the 
work,  and  ordering  a  special  tax  levy  for  its  accomplishment.  At  the 
time  of  my  last  annual  message  the  revenue  law  was  such  that  the  Dis- 
trict could  not  raise  enough  money  to  do  the  work  demanded  by  the  law, 
and  would  have  to  be  derelict,  until  the  Supreme  Court  should  order  an 
increased  tax  lew  bv  mandamus.  This  situation  was  an  intolerable 


one,  and  your  Board  asked  that  its  power  of  issuing  bonds  and  raising 
taxes  be  increased  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  the  Board  to  do  the  work 
demanded  of  it  by  law  in  a  systematic  and  economical  way.  This  law 
was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  but  up  to  date  your  Board  has  not 
found  it  necessary  to  increase  the  levy.  I  strongly  recommend  the  ut- 
most conservatism  in  this  regard.  It  is  desirable  to  do  as  much  per- 
manent work  as  possible  out  of  bond  issues,  so  that  the  burden  of  ex- 
pense may  be  spread  over  as  long  a  time  as  possible. 

I  called  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  law  should  be  amended 
to  allow  residents  of  the  Sanitary  District  to  act  as  jurors  in  cases 
within  the  Sanitary  District,  where  the  Sanitary  District  is  a  party ;  to 
the  fact  that  it  was  not  to  the  best  interests  of  the  District  that  a  limit 
of  $5,000  per  annum  should  be  imposed  by  law  upon  the, salary  to  be 
paid  the  Attorney  of  the  Sanitary  District;  to  the  fact  that  provision 
should  be  made  for  the  rilling  of  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  death,  absence 
or  inability  to  act  of  the  President  of  the  Board,  and  that  the  necessity 
of  advertising  for  sixty  days  before  letting  contracts  interfered  seriously 
with  the  efficiency  of  our  work,  and  that  there  could  be  no  reason  ad- 
vanced for  operating  the  bridges  across  the  main  channel  for  at  least 
two  years.  All  these  matters  were  corrected  in  the  act  approved  by 
the  Governor  on  May  25,  1907.  In  addition,  I  called  to  your  atten- 
tion the  fact  that  the  law  compelling  the  District  to  pay  the  attorneys' 
fees  of  any  plaintiff  who  recovered  from  the  District. a  judgment  for 
overflowed  lands  had  degenerated  into  causing  people  to  bring  suits  not 
for  damaged  land,  but  to  get  attorneys'  fees,  as  was  demonstrated  in  a 
recent  case.  This  proposed  amendment  was  defeated  in  committee  by 
a  senator  from  Will  County,  on  a  plea  that  the  poor  farmers  in  his 
district  were  unable  to  bear  the  cost  of  attorneys'  fees,  although  it  was 
pointed  out  to  the  committee  that  90%  of  the  cases  in  the  senator's 
district  were  controlled  by  one  great  corporation. 

WATER  POWER. 

My  recommendation  on  the  subject  of  enlarging  the  rights  of  the 
Sanitary  District  to  develop  water  power  was  conveyed  in  the  two  fol- 
lowing paragraphs: 

"The  flow  through  the  Sanitary  and  Ship  Canal  has  made  valuable 
certain  power  sites  which  at  one  time  could  have  been  cheaply  ac- 
quired by  the  Trustees,  but  which,  ignored  by  them,  were  bought  up 
and  are  being  exploited  by  men  who  are  glad  to  reap  where  they  have 
not  sown,  who  are  glad  to  fill  their  pockets  at  the  cost  of  the  taxpay- 
ers, whose  greed  for  gain  is  greater  than  their  sense  of  propriety.  The 
interests  of  these  people  and  of  the  people  of  the  Sanitary  District  are 
now  and  will  forever  be  conflicting.  It  should,  therefore,  be  our  un- 
swerving policy  to  fight  them  through  all  the  courts  until  they  consent 

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to  assume   their  share  of  the   damages   and  give   up  our  share   of   the 
benefits. 

"In  order  that  the  District  may  be  enabled  to  avail  itself  to  the  ut- 
most of  the  vast  opportunities  offered  for  the  development  of  water 
power,  made  available  by  the  flow  through  the  main  channel,  the  law 
should  be  amended  by  striking  out  the  limitation  which  requires  the 
location  of  all  its  works  'north  of  the  upper  basin  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal.'  " 

Since  those  recommendations  were  made,  much  study  has  been 
given  to  this  subject  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Sanitary  District  of  Chicago, 
resulting  in  the  uncovering  of  startling  and  atrocious  facts,  followed 
by  the  discovery  that  a  series  of  carefully  thought  out  and  brilliantly 
executed  plans  have  resulted  in  depriving  the  state  and  the  Sanitary 
District  of  Chicago  of  the  immense  water  powers  created  and  owned  by 
them  and  turning  the  same  all  over  to  a  certain  body  of  capitalists.  It 
developed  that  the  same  body  of  men  were  the  actors  in  all  of  these 
acts.  The  matter  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Legislature. 

In  order  to  act  with  intelligence  in  the  premises,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  investigate  the  entire  history  of  the  water  power  questions 
affecting  the  Sanitary  District.  Concisely  stated,  the  facts  are  as  fol- 
lows :  The  right  of  way  of  the  Sanitary  District  was  laid  out  to  Bran- 
don's Road  in  1896  and  operations  for  the  acquirement  of  the  right  of 
way  begun.  All  private  property  as  far  as  South  street  was  acquired 
by  purchase  or  condemnation  and  negotiations  were  entered  into  be- 
tween the  Sanitary  District  and  the  Canal  Commissioners  for  the  pur- 
pose of  acquiring  right  of  way  over  the  lands  of  the  Illinois  and  Michi- 
gan Canal. 

In  March,  1898,  a  contract  was  drawn  up  between  the  two  bodies 
under  the  terms  of  which  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  was  to  have 
the  same  amount  of  power  as  it  had  always  had  and  not  have  this  in- 
creased or  decreased  by  the  flow  through  the  Drainage  Canal.  All  other 
power  was  to  be  the  property  of  the  Sanitary  District,  which  created  it. 

During  the  same  year  the  Canal  Commissioners  revoked  their 
contract  and  compelled  the  -Sanitary  District  to  build  a  water  power 
plant  at  Jackson  street,  and  give  all  the  water  power  capable  of  devel- 
opment at  that  point  to  the  Economy  Light  &  Power  Co.  Attached  to 
the  instrument  which  required  construction  of  this  water  power  plant 
was  another  which  set  out  that  the  construction  was  dangerous  to  life 
and  property.  The  construction  is  dangerous  to  life  and  property  and 
will  be  so  long  as  it  remains. 

The  decree  also  stipulated  that  the  Sanitary  District  should  have 
all  the  water  power  to  be  developed  between  Dam  Xo.  i  and  South 
street  by  furnishing  to  the  Canal  Commissioners  all  the  power  that 
would  be  destroyed  on  the  Channahon  level.  Soon  after  this,  a  certain 

12 


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speculator  began  buying  all  the  property  in  the  right  of  way  of  the 
Sanitary  District,  which  the  District  itself  had  not  acquired,  and,  hav- 
ing done  so,  instituted  condemnation  proceedings  to  condemn  the  pub- 
lic property  of  the  Sanitary  District  for  private  use,  introducing  in 
court  a  contract  from  the  Canal  Commissioners  to  flow  the  property  of 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  between  Dam  No.  i  and  South  street, 
which  had  been  awarded  to  the  Sanitary  District  under  the  consent  de- 
cree. The  court  held  that  he  could  not  condemn  public  property  for 
private  use,  so  the  suit  was  defeated  and  with  it  fell  the  lease  from  the 
Canal  Commissioners. 

The  Sanitary  District  later  filed  condemnation  proceedings  to  ac- 
quire the  property  in  its  right  of  way,  which  the  speculator  bought, 
knowing  this  fact.  The  District  also  opened  negotiations  with  the 
Canal  Commissioners  for  any  rights  of  flowage  on  the  Illinois  and  Michi- 
gan Canal  bank  between  Dam  No.  I  and  South  street,  which  were  not 
covered  in  the  consent  decree,  but  although  they  offered  as  high  as 
$75,000  for  the  privilege,  it  was  not  granted.  The  speculator  pro- 
ceeded to  acquire  property  south  of  the  lower  end  of  the  Drainage  Canal 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Illinois  river  and  to  acquire  all  the  rights  of  the 
state  for  hydraulic  purposes — rights  similar  to  those  at  Dam  No.  I  and 
South  street — for  $2,200. 

In  1905,  there  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  and  caused  to  be 
passed  in  the  Legislature  a  bill  empowering  the  Canal  Commissioners 
to  sell,  outright,  state  rights  and  water  power.  On  March  25,  1907,  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Will  County  held  that  the  Sanitary  District  had  the 
right  to  condemn  the  property  at  Brandon's  Road,  on  the  Desplaines 
river,  which  at  this  time  had  been  transferred  to  the  Economy  Light  & 
Power  Co.  On  February  23,  1907,  the  Economy  Light  &  Power  Co.  hav- 
ing decided  to  build  a  dam  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Kankakee  river,  per- 
mission was  asked  from  the  War  Department  to  erect  such  a  dam. 
The  situation  then,  last  winter,  was  that  the  Sanitary  District  had  flow- 
age  rights  on  and  was  condemning  all  property  south  of  Jackson  street. 
Property  at  Jackson  street  owned  by  the  state  has  consequently  been 
taken  away  from  the  state  and  Sanitary  District  and  turned  over  to 
the  Economy  Light  &  Power  Co.,  for  water  power,  as  water  power 
rights  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Kankakee  river  have  been  taken  away  from 
the  state  and  given  to  the  Economy  Light  &  Power  Co.  An  attempt 
to  have  the  National  Government  confirm  this  deal  was  refused  by  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

This  information  having  been  gathered,  it  was  forwarded  to  the 
Governor  of  the  state  for  the  suggestion  of  a  remedy  for  existing  evils, 
and  afterwards  negotiations  were  taken  up  with  him  and  the  Canal 
Commissioners  to  put  the  plan  into  effect.  The  plan  was,  in  a  word, 

14 


15 


to  remove  the  danger  of  Dam  No.  I  by  removing  that  dam,  carrying 
this  water  level  through  to  Brandon's  Road  by  construction  which 
would  be  perfectly  safe,  prevent  the  floods  at  Hickory  Creek,  create 
three  miles  of  deep  waterway  and  develop  a  large  amount  of  electric 
power.  Another  bill  was  introduced  to  get  for  the  State  of  Illinois 
all  the  water  power  created  by  the  flow  through  the  Drainage  Canal 
south  of  the  southern  end  of  the  Drainage  Canal.  The  bills  were  de- 
feated in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  never  allowed  to  come  upon 
the  floor  of  either  house. 

Just  at  the  time  this  legislation  was  presented  the  Economy  Light 
&  Power  Co.  re-organized  to  take  in  all  the  holdings  of  individual 
holders  and  at  the  same  time  the  Economy  Light  &  Power  Co.  came 
under  the  control  of  the  -Chicago  Commonwealth-Edison  Co.,  thus  com- 
pleting the  monopoly  of  electric  power  in  northeastern  Illinois,  a  mon- 
opoly based  upon  special  privileges  and  one  which  could  only  be  chal- 
lenged by  the  water  power  developed  by  the  Sanitary  District.  There- 
fore a  double  incentive  arose  for  the  defeat  of  these  bills :  first,  because 
it  was  feared  that  the  passage  of  these  bills  would  take  the  privilege 
of  developing  water  power  away  from  this  company;  second,  the  pass- 
age of  the  Sanitary  District  bill  would  put  a  competitor  in  the  field 
which  might  regulate  the  monopolistic  rate  now  charged.  An  active 
lobby,  in  which  there  is  positive  evidence  were  representatives  of  the 
Economy  Light  &  Power  Co.,  opposed  these  bills. 

A  great  deal  of  antagonism  was  raised  in  the  Legislature  because 
of  the  methods  used  by  the  opponents  to  the  bills,  which  antagonism 
was  expressed  by  the  passage  of  the  Allen-Lantz  bill,  ordering  the  Gov- 
ernor to  remove  all  obstructions  from  the  Desplaines  and  Illinois  rivers 
and  to  allow  no  more  to  be  put  in,  and  by  the  appointment  by  the 
House  of  a  committee  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  Illinois  and  Mich- 
igan Canal. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  information  which  the  Sanitary  District 
has  been  able  to  present  to  this  committee  will  lead  to  its  recommend- 
ing constructive  legislation,  which  will  accomplish  as  much  as  would 
the  passage  of  the  bills  which  your  Board  was  instrumental  in  pre- 
paring. 

LAW  DEPARTMENT. 

The  high  standing  to  which  the  Law  Department  was  raised  a 
year  ago  has  been  maintained  during  the  past  year.  The  efficiency  of 
this  Department  is  shown,  not  only  by  the  work  it  has  done,  but  by 
the  fact  that  the  District  has  suffered  no  material  defeats  in  pending 
litigation.  On  April  13,  1907,  the  Department  lost  its  chief,  Mr.  Lindley, 
by  resignation.  Deeply  as  the  loss  of  Mr.  Lindley  is  to  be  regretted,  it  i? 


•     o 


17 


a  matter  of  general  satisfaction  that  there  was  in  the  Department  a  man 
fully  qualified  to  take  up  the  responsibility  of  that  position.  On  July 
10,  1907,  Mr.  John  C.  Williams  was  elected  Attorney  for  the  Board? 
Following-  is  a  short  recital  of  the  activities  of  the  Law  Department  dur4 
ing  the  past  year : 

LITIGATION    DISPOSED   OF. 

The  following  cases  have  been  disposed  of  during  the  past  year  in 
the  manner  indicated: 

Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County. 

McMahon  &  Montgomery  Company  vs.  Sanitary  District.  Claim 
for  $500,000.00.  A  judgment  was  originally  entered  against  the  Sani- 
tary District  for  $179,595.00,  which  judgment  was  reversed  by  the  Ap- 
pellate Court.  During  this  year  the  claim  was  settled  and  the  suit  dis- 
missed on  payment  of  $75,000.00. 

Two  cases  of  Chicago  &  Illinois  Western  R.  R.  Co.  vs.  Sanitary  Dis- 
trict, et  al.,  were  condemnation  suits.  The  lands  involved  in  these  suits 
were  leased  to  the  railway  company  and  the  condemnation  suits  dis- 
missed. 

Joseph  J.  Duffy  vs.  Sanitary  District.  A  bill  filed  to  enjoin  the 
Sanitary  District  from  paying  certain  moneys  to  the  Forcite  Powder 
Company.  The  case  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  and  subsequently  dismissed. 

Three  cases  of  John  S.  Goodwin,  Trustee,  vs.  Sanitary  District. 
These  cases  involved  claims  aggregating  $510,000.00;  damages  claimed 
by  reason  of  the  Sanitary  District's  wrongfully  permitting  condemna- 
tion suits  to  stand  against  the  City  and  Iowa  elevator  properties  for  a 
number  of  years  and  by  reason  of  increasings  the  current  in  the  Chi- 
cago river  and  affecting  the  docks  along  said  property.  These  claims 
were  entirely  wiped  out  and  the  suits  dismissed  upon  the  purchase  of 
the  Iowa  and  City  elevator  properties. 

Hill  vs.  Sanitary  District  of  Chicago.  This  was  a  bill  to  foreclose 
certain  property.  The  Sanitary  District  was  made  a  party  defendant 
by  reason  of  a  judgment  for  costs  and,  the  property  being  insufficient 
security  for  the  mortgage,  the  Department  did  not  deem  it  necessary 
to  give  attention  to  the  suit. 

William  Rohn  vs.  Sanitary  District.  This  case  was  tried  before 
Judge  Walker  and  the  case  taken  under  advisement;  no  decision  has 
been  rendered. 

Circuit  Court  of  Will  County. 

Two  cases  of  A.  S.  Alderman  vs.  Sanitary  District.  These  were 
actions  for  damages  to  crops  by  reason  of  overflow.  One  of  these 
cases  was  tried  and  a  verdict  for  $506.25  returned-  against  the  District. 

18 


,J 


rj 


During  the  pendency  of  the  motion  for  a  new  trial,  both  cases,  in  which 
Alderman  claimed  damages  aggregating  $10,000.00,  were  taken  up,  a 
settlement  was  effected  and  all  claims  for  temporary  and  permanent  dam- 
ages satisfied  in  full  by  the  payment  of  $3,500.00. 

American  Trust  &  Savings  Bank,  trustee,  vs.  Sanitary  District. 
This  was  an  action  for  damages  to  land,  prior  to  its  being  condemned 
by  the  District.  The  amount  claimed  was  $20,000.00.  A  settlement 
was  affected  and  suit  dismissed  upon  payment  of  $250.00. 

William  O'Brien  vs.  Sanitary  District.  This  was  an  action  for 
$2,000.00  damages  occasioned  by  overflowing  plaintiff's  lands,  and  was 
settled  by  the  payment  of  $600.00. 

Shlensky  vs.  Wisner.  This  was  an  action  for  $900.00  damages 
claimed  for  a  breach  of  an  agreement  to  sell  certain  scrap  iron  on  the 
Duffy  sections.  This  suit  was  afterwards  dismissed. 

Randkowic  vs.  Sanitary  District.  This  was  a  claim  for  $2,000.00 
for  personal  injuries,  which  was  settled  by  the  Travellers'  Insurance 
Company,  and  the  suit  dismissed. 

Municipal  Court  of  Chicago. 

Sanitary  District  vs.  McGuirl,  et  al.  Judgment  was  recovered 
against  the  defendants  for  $225.00. 

Sanitary  District  vs.  Maxwell  Bros.  Co.  This  was  a  suit  for  use 
and  occupation  of  certain  property  sold  by  the  defendants  to  the  Sani- 
tary District.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Judiciary  Committee, 
the  suit  was  settled  upon  the  payment  to  the  District  of  $150.00. 

Criminal  Court  of  Cook  County. 

People,  ex-rel.,  vs.  Me  Cormick,  etc.  This  was  a  case  wherein  the 
President  of  the  Sanitary  District  wras  arrested  and  charged  with  violat- 
ing the  "Thistle  Law."  The  suit  was  dismissed. 

Appellate  Court,  Second  District. 

Curran  and  Graff  vs.  Sanitary  District,  in  the  Appellate  Court. 
Second  District  of  Illinois.  In  this  case  the  plaintiffs  were  allowed 
$7,500.00  attorneys'  fees  by  the  Circuit  Court.  The  Appellate  Court 
reversed  the  judgment  for  attorneys'  fees  entered  by  the  trial  court,  and 
the  claim  was  settled  by  the  payment  of  $4,000.00. 

Supreme   Court   of  Illinois. 

Alfred  Harlev  vs.  Sanitary  District.  This  was  a  claim  against 
the  District  on  account  of  main  channel  construction  \vork,  amounting 
to  $400,000.00.  During  this  year  the  Supreme  Court  affirmed  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Appellate  Court  and  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County, 
finding  for  the  District,  so  that  the  claim  is  now  finally  cancelled. 

Sanitary  District  of  Chicago  vs.  Chapin.     This  was  a  condemnation 

20 


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21 


suit  which  was  instituted  in  1902,  but  Chapin  was  not  served  with 
process.  During,  the  present  year  Chapin  was  served  with  summons 
and  he  moved  to  dismiss  the  petition.  The  Circuit  Court  dismissed  the 
petition  and  the  Supreme  Court  affirmed  the  decision. 

Ida  Freda  Moll,  Executrix,  etc.,  vs.  Sanitary  District.  A  writ  of 
error  was  sued  out  to  review  the  action  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  sustain- 
ing a  demurrer  to  the  declaration.  This  case  was  brought  to  recover 
interest  on  the  amount  of  an  award  in  a  condemnation  suit  in  Du  Page 
County  in  1895  after  successful  appeal.  The  amount  of  the  claim  was, 
approximately,  $3,000.00.  The  Appellate  Court  sustained  the  position 
of  the  District  and  affirmed  the  Circuit  Court.  The  Supreme  Court 
affirmed  the  decision  of  the  Appellate  Court  except  as  to  one  count, 
which  the  Court  held  to  be  good.  The  effect  of  the  decision,  however, 
was  to  find  that  the  District  was  not  liable. 

Sanitary  District  vs.  Jane  S.  Martin,  et  al.  The  Supreme  Court 
affirmed  the  decision  of  the  Appellate  Court,  and  the  decree  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  Cook  County,  finding  that  Martin,  et  al.,  wrere  entitled  to 
$6,500.00,  which  sum,  with  interest  and  costs,  was  paid  and  the  judg- 
ment satisfied. 

Sanitary  District  of  Chicago  vs.  John  J.  Hanberg,  County  Col- 
lector, etc.  The  Sanitary  District  appealed  from  the  decision  of  the 
County  Court,  which  held  that  the  property  of  the  District,  held  for  its 
corporate  purposes,  was  subject  to  taxation.  The  Supreme  Court  re- 
versed the  County  Court,  as  a  result  of  which  taxes  aggregating  $42,- 
026.65  were  stricken  off  and  cancelled. 

Appellate   Court,  First  District. 

Joseph  Kompare  vs.  Sanitary  District,  et  al.  The  Appellate  Court 
affirmed  the  judgment  of  the  Circuit  Court  against  the  District  and  E. 
Heldmaier,  and  the  judgment  has  been  paid  by  Heldmaier  in  accord- 
ance with  his  agreement  with  the  District. 

United  States  Circuit  Court. 

Ingersoll-Rand  Co.  vs.  Duffy  and  Sanitary  District.  This  was  an 
action  in  attachment.  The  Sanitary  District  was  served  as  garnishee. 
The  suit  was  finally  adjusted  and  the  suit  dismissed. 

PROCEEDINGS   IN   SUITS   NOW   PENDING. 

Circuit   Court  of  Cook  County. 

Griffiths  &  McDermott  vs.  Sanitary  District.  Several  days  spent 
in  court  in  argument  over  motion  to  produce  certain  papers  and  rec- 
ords in  possession  of  the  District.  Additional  counts  have  been  filed 
in  the  suit  and  several  conferences  held  with  the  attorneys  for  the 
plaintiffs  looking  either  to  the  trial  or  settlement  of  the  suit. 

22 


••.l  '•r/s 

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23 


Mary  Prescott  McArthur  vs.  Sanitary  District.  A  case  involving 
substantially  the  same  questions  as  those  involved  in  the  case  of  Mar- 
tin, et  al.,  vs.  Sanitary  District  above  referred  to.  It  is  now  on  the 
trial  calendar  of  Judge  Walker. 

McArthur  Brothers  Co.  vs.  Sanitary  District.  An  action  for 
$100,000.00  damages.  Demurrers  were  argued  to  the  declaration  and 
sustained  as  to  three  counts.  The  case  is  now  at  issue.  - 

Two  cases — Star  &  Crescent  Milling  Co.  vs.  Sanitary  District.  In 
these  cases  pleadings  have  been  filed  and  a  number  of  conferences  have 
been  held  with  the  plaintiffs  and  their  attorneys  and  the  members  of 
the  Judiciary  Committee  looking  towards  an  adjustment. 

Special  Assessment  No.  7,  for  the  paving  of  Marshall  Boulevard. 
The  Department  appeared  in  these  proceedings  and  protected  the  in- 
terests of  the  Sanitary  District. 

City  vs.  West  Chicago  Park  Commissioners,  et  al.  A  bill  for  an 
accounting  for  certain  taxes  collected  by  the  West  Chicago  Park 
Commissioners  in  excess  of  the  amount  to  which  they  were  alleged  to 
have  been  entitled  under  the  Juul  law,  of  which  excess  the  Sanitary 
District  would  have  been  entitled  to  a  small  amount.  The  Sanitary 
District  has  entered  its  appearance  and  has  filed  pleadings,  so  that  its 
interests  will  be  protected. 

Chicago  Title  &  Trust  Company,  trustee,  vs.  Sanitary  District  of 
Chicago.  An  action  for  damages  caused  to  building  by  reason  of 
settling  caused  by  excavation  in  the  construction  of  the  Randolph 
street  bridge.  A  demurrer  to  the  declaration  was  filed  by  the  District, 
and  argued  before  Judge  Mack.  The  demurrer  was  sustained. 

Thomas  O.  Mills  vs.  Sanitary  District.  An  action  for  overflow. 
A  demurrer  was  filed  to  the  declaration  and  the  demurrer  was  sus- 
tained. 

South  Side  Elevated  R.  R.  Co.  vs.  Sanitary  District  and  City  of 
Chicago.  A  bill  of  interpleader  to  decide  to  whom  the  compensation 
should  be  paid  for  water  used  out  of  the  Thirty-ninth  street  conduit. 
The  pleadings  have  been  settled  and  the  money  paid  into  court  and  the 
case  referred  to  a  master  in  chancery  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  issues  between  the  City  of  Chicago  and  the  Sanitary  District. 

Circuit   Court   of   Will   County. 

The  Sanitary  District  of  Chicago  vs.  Economy  Light  &  Power 
Company,  et  al.  A  preliminary  hearing  was  had  occupying  more  than 
three  weeks  upon  the  motion  of  the  defendant  to  dismiss  the  suit.  The 
court  denied  the  motion  to  dismiss  and  held  that  the  Sanitary  District 
was  entitled  to  condemn  the  property  involved.  Appearances  in  court 


On  several  occasions  subsequent  for  the  purpose  of  having  the  case  set 
for  trial  were  made,  and  the  case  set  for  January  6th,  1908. 

Considerable  work  has  been  done  in  the  examination  of  files  and 
records  of  other  cases  and  in  the  preparation  of  cases  for  trial,  and  in 
abstracting  records  to  be  used  in  the  trial  of  such  cases  as  were  likely 
to  be  called. 

NEW  SUITS. 

The  following  proceedings  in  which  the  Sanitary  District  is  in- 
terested have  been  instituted  during  the  year,  in  addition  to  those  men- 
tioned above  which  have  been  disposed  of. 

Circuit  Court   of  Cook   County. 

^ohn  McKechney,  etc.,  vs.  Sanitary  District.  This  is  an  action  for 
vjoaooo.oo  on  account  of  contracts  for  the  construction  of  certain 
sections  of  the  main  channel.  A  suit  for  a  similar  amount  was  dis- 
missed, on  our  motion,  within  the  year  last  past,  and  this  is  a  revival 
of  the  same  action. 

Manufacturers'  Junction  Ry.  Co.  vs.  Sanitary  District.  This  is  an 
action  for  the  condemnation  of  certain  property  on  both  sides  of  the 
main  channel  in  the  vicinity  of  the  plant  of  the  Western  Electric  Com- 
pany. 

Superior  Court  of  Cook  County. 

Sanitary  District  vs.  Mary  E.  Turner,  et  al.  A  condemnation  pro- 
ceeding for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  certain  property  for  the  right  of 
way  for  the  North  Shore  Channel.  The  case  has  been  set  for  Jan- 
uary 6th,  1908. 

Sanitary  District  vs.  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  Co.  et  al.  An  action  to 
condemn  the  right  to  cross  the  tracks  of  said  railway  company  with 
the  North  Shore  Channel. 

Sanitary  District  vs.  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.  Co.  An  action 
to  condemn  the  right  to  cross  the  Mayfair  division  of  the  right  of  way 
of  said  railway  company. 

Notices  have  been  served,  as  a  result  of  which  several  cases  for 
damages  caused  by  overflow  of  lands,  in  Will  County,  are  on  the  trial 
calendar  for  this  term.  It  is  quite  likely  that  some  of  these  cases  will 
be  tried  during  the  present  month. 

POLICE  DEPARTMENT. 

Our  little  Police  Department  put  in  a  busy  and  valuable  year.  Con- 
sisting of  less  than  a  dozen  men,  it  covered  a  beat  sixty  miles  long; 
it  guarded  the  property  of  the  District,  kept  order  among  the  work- 
men at  Lockport,  drove  doubtful  characters  from  the  canal  and  de- 

25 


tected  those  who  were  polluting  the  Chicago  river  and  the  canal.     The 

following  is  a  summary  of  the  work  done  and 'cases  handled  by  the 
police : 

Total  number  of  arrests  185 

Total  number  of  convictions   175 

Total  number  of  reprimands   47 

Total  number  of  cases  pending  in  court , 7 

Total  amount  of  fines  and  costs  $1,802.25 

Total  cubic  yards  caused  to  be  dredged  out 37>r92 

Total  linear  feet  of  dock  built  by  prosecuted  parties 7»929 

Total  convictions  for  filling  and  polluting  the  Chicago  river  in 

violation  of  Sections  1913  and  1004 67 

Homicides 3 

Assaults  and  batteries  .  .< 1 1 

Drunk  and  disorderly  73 

Larceny 5 

Receiving  stolen  property   I 

Dumping  solids  in  canal  at  Lockport 2 

Disturbing  the  peace   2 

Vagrancy 2 

Dead  human  bodies  removed  from  the  canal 21 

Dead  horses,  cows  and  dogs  removed  from  the  canal 75 

Number  of  people  saved  from  drowning.  . .  .> 8 

CLERICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

The  Clerical  Department  is  charged  with  the  recording  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  of  its  Committees  and  with  the 
care  of  the  documents  and  records  of  both  Board  and  Committees. 
This  work  has  grown  with  the  increased  activities  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

It  has  been  the  effort  of  the  Department  to  more  thoroughly  sys- 
tematize the  methods  of  filing  and  keeping  records  and  documents  in 
order  to  facilitate  prompt  access  thereto,  and  various  improvements 
have  been  worked  out,  which  have  been  important  in  the  aggregate  in 
effecting  considerable  saving  in  the  time  required  in  finding  any  par- 
ticular document,  or  tracing  any  particular  action  of  the  Board,  or  of 
its  Committees. 

A  current  index  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Board  has  been  kept 
up  to  date,  as  closely  as  possible,  for  the  convenience  of  all  depart- 
ments. 

More,  and  more  complete,  financial  statements  have  been  made  by 
the  Department  to  the  Board  and  to  its  Committees  and  to  the  Presi- 
dent. These  have  included  monthly  reports  of  all  receipts  and  expen- 

26 


ditures  for  the  current  month  and  for  the  year,  to  the  end  of  each 
month ;  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  District  at  certain  times,  neces- 
sitated by  the  various  issues  of  bonds  or  for  special  statements  to  the 
Legislature  and  various  civic  bodies ;  and  full  reports  showing  the  con- 
dition of  uncompleted  contracts,  the  amounts  paid  out  on  each,  and  the 
estimated  amounts  required  to  complete  the  work,  at  the  close  of  each 
month. 

Special  efforts  have  been  made  to  keep  the  books  always  up  to 
date,  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  delay  in  making  such  reports 
when  called  for. 

The  rule  of  the  Board  requiring  all  vouchers  for  payments  for 
supplies  to  show  the  authority  for  the  purchase,  practically  a  dead  let- 
ter in  the  past,  ha's  been  lived  up  to,  and  requisitions  have  been  pre- 
pared and  presented  to  the  Committee  on  Finance  covering  purchases 
of  all  supplies  for  the  various  departments.  For  the  year  1907,  460 
requisitions  passed  through  the  Clerical  Department  and  were  approved 
by  the  Board,  or  by  the  President,  compared  with  210  during  1906, 
only  four  in  1905  and  none  at  all  in  1904. 

For  years  the  rule  of  the  Board  making  the  Clerk  the  purchasing 
agent  for  the  District  has  been  ignored  and  purchases  have  been  made  by 
members  of  all  the  other  departments.  Last  year  the  rule  was  en- 
forced, which  increased  the  work  of  the  Department  as  the  purchasing 
agency  of  the  District,  495  orders  for  supplies  having  been  issued  in 
1907,  compared  with  428  orders  in  1906.  The  records  of  prior  years 
show  few  written  orders  for  supplies  sent  out  by  the  Department. 

The  following  table  of  matters  which  have  been  before  the  Board 
of  Trustees  for  action  in  the  last  four  years,  illustrates  alike  the  greater 
activity  of  the  Board  and  the  larger  amount  of  work  which  has  devolved 
upon  the  Clerical  Department: 

1904  1905  1906  1907 

Number  of  meetings .  . .  . 52  57  55  58 

Pages  of  proceedings 658  763  1045  1112 

Reports  of  committees 117  163  375  355 

Orders,  ordinances  and  resolutions 40  40  350  348 

Messages  and  reports  of  the  President....  4  20  62  23 
Reports  and  communications  from  the  Cleri- 
cal Department   13  12  65  45 

Reports  and  communications  from  the  En- 
gineering- Department   .  . .  . 42  25  33  25 

Reports  and  communications  from  the  Law 

Department    , 1 1  5  19  7 

Contracts,  leases,  agreements,  permits,  etc..  .  28  42  57  85 

27 


REAL  ESTATE  DEPARTMENT. 

The  Real  Estate  Department  has  continued  its  activity  during  the 
past  year  and  has  made  such  progress  as  to  assure  the  development 
of  the  dockage  along  the  canal  banks.  In  December,  1905,  five  years 
after  the  canal  had  been  opened,  the  rental  and  dockage  contracts  were 
at  the  following  rates : 

Per  Year 

Term   leases    $10,245.00 

Year  to  year  leases   3>379-°5 

Month  to  month  leases 

Receipts  from  sale  of  stone  and  clay  in  the  spoil  bank   (12 

mos.    passed) 


Total   .$13,624.05 

By  December,  1906,  this  had  been  increased  to : 

Per  Year 

Term  leases   $10,245.00 

Year  to  year  leases   , 5,794.30 

Month  to  month  leases  10,779.60 

Receipts  from  the  sale  of  stone  and  clay  in  the  spoil  bank  (12 

mos.   passed) ., 9,386.29 


Total    $36,205. 19 

At  the  present  date  the  actual  income  of  the  District's  real  estate  is 
as  follows : 

Term    leases    $25,182.60 

Year  to  year  leases  • 1,923.25 

Month  to  month  leases. 22,840.00 

Receipts  from    sale  of  stone  in  the    spoil  bank    (12  months 

passed) \ 16,995.48 


Total  $66,941.33 

Too  much  credit  cannot  be  given  to  the  head  of  the  Real  Estate 
Department  or  to  the  Real  Estate  Committee  and  its  Chairman.  Start- 
ing with  an  idea  unknown  in  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  world, 
it  has  carried  on  an  aggressive  and  yet  economical  campaign  of  develop- 
ment. No  proposition  has  been  too  great  for  its  consideration  and  none 
too  small  for  its  notice.  Its  work  has  ranged  from  the  construction  of 
a  $5,000,000.00  plant  to  the  privilege  of  tying  up  a  small  boat  for  $5.00 
a  month. 

28 


DEVELOPMENT   Of   DOCKS. 

There  is  no  activity  before  the  Board  of  greater  importance  than 
that  of  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  canal.  An  aggressive 
policy  must  be  maintained  in  order  to  attract  tenants ;  at  the  same  time 
great  caution  must  be  exercised  to  prevent  the  granting  of  privileges 
which  will  be  regretted  i:i  future  days.  In  the  development  of  this  De- 
partment there  must  be  kept  steadily  in  mind  that  all  leases  should  be 
subject  to  re- valuation  clauses  and  that  at  each  railroad  crossing  there 
should  be  kept  free  from  lease  a  sufficient  strip  of  dockage  for  general 
public  use.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  canal,  from  Robey  street 
to  Summit,  because  of  its  geological  structure  and  of  its  freedom  from 
vested  interests,  can  be  cut  into  any  shape  that  requirements  of  com- 
merce may  demand.  Permanent  improvements  should  not  be  allowed 
on  either  bank  of  the  canal  within  100  feet  of  the  dock  lines  now  fixed 
by  ordinance.  As  time  goes  on,  the  maintenance  of  the  canal  may 
grow  into  an  expensive  work.  Let  this  expense  be  borne  by  those  who 
reap  the  commercial  advantages  of  it  and  place  in  their  contract  the  ob- 
ligation to  maintain  the  banks  of  the  canal  and  the  depth  of  the  canal 
to  the  middle  of  the  stream  before  lessees'  properties,  in  a  condition  ac- 
ceptable to  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  Sanitary  District  or  his 
successor. 

With  the  purchase  of  the  right  of  way  of  the  Evanston  canal  and 
with  the  digging  of  the  canal,  the  scope  of  the  Real  Estate  Depart- 
ment is  greatly  increased.  At  the  present  time  it  has  on  its  hands  the 
care  of  many  houses  and  cottages  found  in  the  line  of  the  right  of  way. 
These  temporary  leases,  like  all  temporary  leases,  should  be  terminated 
as  soon  as  practicable.  The  temporary  leases  on  property  to  be  exca- 
vated will  take  care  of  themselves.  Those  on  property  to  be  retained 
permanently  should  be  changed  into  leases  of  at  least  ten  years  in 
length,  taxes  and  repairs  to  be  paid  by  the  tenant. 

SOUTH  BRANCH  OF  THE  CHICAGO  RIVER. 

Your  Board  has  continued  the  widening  of  the  South  Branch  of 
the  Chicago  river  in  the  same  methodical,  businesslike  way  it  adopted 
two  years  ago;  it  has  ignored  the  clamors  and  political  pressure 
brought  by  interested  parties,  and  has  been  fearless  in  its  steady  ad- 
vance. Knowing  that  to  do  work  economically,  it  is  necessary  to  do  a 
goodly  amount  at  a  time,  your  Board  has  refrained  from  advertising 
its  work  until  it  had  acquired  the  following  properties : 

From  north  of  Jackson  boulevard  to  Madison  street,  acquired  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Company ;  from  the  Seipp  property  south  of  Van  Buren 
street  to  the  north  line  of  the  Union  Elevated  R.  R.  Co.'s  power  house, 

30 


£    3 
ta    O 

re   •- 


31 


acquired  of  Richard  L.  DeZeng,  Clara  R.  Bacon  and  Cornelia  R.  Green ; 
from  the  north  line  of  Harrison  street  to  the  south  end  of  the  Charles 
C.  Chapin  property,  acquired  of  M.  C.  McDonald ;  from  Sixteenth  street 
south  about  750  feet,  acquired  from  the  Western  Indiana  Belt  Railroad. 

Several  times  bids  were  thrown  out  for  various  causes,  and  when 
finally  the  contracts  were  let,  they  were  let  at  a  rate  10  per  cent  less 
than  the  work  had  hitherto  been  done  on  the  river. 

On  October  2,  1907,  your  Board  bought  the  Iowa  and  City  ele- 
vators, paying  therefor  $850,000.00  in  4^%  two-year  bonds.  The  easy 
way  out  would  have  been  to  have  pushed  condemnation  proceedings  and 
then  left  the  responsibility  to  a  jury.  I  am  confidently  of  the  opinion 
that  this  course  would  have  necessitated  the  payment  of  a  far  larger 
sum  of  money  than  actually  was  expended. 

EXTENSION  OF  MAIN  CHANNEL,  WATER  POWER 
DEVELOPMENT. 

By  far  the  most  important  construction  work  carried  on  in  the  past 
year  wras  the  work  for  the  development  of  water  power  at  Lockport 
and  the  extension  of  the  main  channel.  As  outlined  in  my  last  message, 
the  contract  with  Joseph  J.  Duffy  for  the  construction  of  retaining  walls 
and  excavation  for  the  head-race  and  tail-race  was  forfeited  by  the 
Sanitary  District  on  June  9,  1906.  The  reasons  for  this  forfeiture,  as 
set  out  in  the  certificate  of  the  Chief  Engineer,  were  that  he  was  not 
carrying  on  the  work  with  celerity,  that  he  was  not  carrying  on  the 
work  according  to  specifications,  and  that  he  did  not  have  sufficient 
machinery  upon  the  work.  The  absolute  necessity  for  this  drastic 
action  was  clearly  shown  by  subsequent  experience.  The  contractor 
had  gone  at  his  work  in  an  unscientific  manner  and  had  dissipated  its 
resources,  without  getting  anything  like  full  value  from  the  work  he 
did.  He  had  allowed  his  machinery  to  run  down  to  the  breaking  point 
and  had  exhausted  his  credit  with  the  banks.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that 
had  the  District  delayed  taking  action  it  would  have  had  the  contract 
thrown  upon  its  hands  within  a  few  months  in  far  worse  condition  than 
it  was  and  would  have  had  to  finish  the  work  at  much  greater  expense 
than  was  actually  incurred. 

At  the  time  the  District  took  over  the  work  and  for  months  pre- 
viously, the  work  to  be  done  was  this :  Rock  from  the  tail-race  was 
blasted,  dug  up  by  steam  shovels  and  dumped  into  trains  of  cars ;  these 
cars  were  than  run  and  dumped  behind  the  concrete  retaining  walls  of 
the  head-race,  or  into  the  rock  crushers  to  make  concrete.  There  had 
been  a  lack  of  system  in  the  work.  The  amount  of  blasted  rock  would 
be  consumed  before  other  rock  was  in  condition  to  be  blasted ;  the 

32 


33 


trains  would  crowd  around  the  steam  shovels  and  half  of  them  be  idle 
while  the  others  were  being  loaded;  and,  again,  the  trains  would  troop 
away  to  the  dump,  leaving  the  crushers  idle,  while  frequently  there 
would  be  heard  the  whistle  from  the  crushers,  signalling  that  they  had 
no  more  rock  to  crush  and,  consequently,  could  not  supply  the  con- 
crete mixers.  The  tracks  were  not  laid  with  due  regard  to  the  trains 
run  upon  them  and  frequently  several  trains  arriving  at  one  switch 
would  block  each  other  and  the  whole  plant  would  lie  idle.  This  not 
only  delayed  the  completion  of  the  work,  but  enormously  ran  up  the 
cost. 

To  re-organize  the  undertaking  was  no  easy  task  and  perfectly 
satisfactory  results  were  not  attained  until  Assistant  Chief  Engineer 
George  M.  Wisner  was  put  in  charge  of  the  construction. 

We  proceeded  at  once  to  re-organize  the  work.  Shovels  were 
placed  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  one  another;  tracks  were  laid  so  as 
to  give  the  utmost  freedom  of  motion  to  trains  and  these,  in  turn,  were 
routed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  keep  out  of  each  other's  way,  so  that  there 
always  could  be  a  train  loading  at  each  shovel  and  always  sufficient 
stone  delivered  to  the  crusher.  No  one  who  has  not  seen  the  work 
carried  on  before  and  after  the  re-organization  can  fairly  realize  the 
change  wrought.  Perhaps  the  greatest  indication  that  can  now  be  given 
is  this:  In  the  months  of  June  to  December,  1905,  when  the  machinery 
was  new,  when  the  haul  of  the  excavation  was  short  and  every  advan- 
tage that  was  possible  existed,  the  contractor  excavated  208,000  CUBIC 
YARDS  of  MATERIAL.  After  the  re-organization,  in  the  months  of  June 
to  December,  1907,  having  taken  over  machinery  in  an  almost  ruinous 
condition,  doing  the  work  in  the  most  disadvantageous  way  and  with 
the  longest  possible  hauls  for  material,  there  were  excavated  240,500 

CUBIC   YARDS   OF    MATERIAL. 

The  employes  responded  to  the  new  method  of  management, 
worked  more  willingly  and  efficiently  and  were  bringing  the  contract 
rapidly  to  a  close  when  there  occurred  a  contingency  which  had  long 
been  foreseen,  but  which  could  not  be  guarded  against. 

On  the  iQth  of  January,  1907,  a  storm  of  rain  amounting  almost 
to  a  cloudburst  fell  on  northern  Illinois.  This,  melting  the  snow  which 
was  on  the  ground,  poured  in  a  torrent  down  the  Desplaines  Valley. 
The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  overflowed  its  banks  for  miles  at  a 
stretch.  A  torrent  of  water  coming  down  swept  into  the  unfinished 
work.  Our  men  worked  heroically  to  protect  the  levees — some  of  them 
working  over  twenty-four  hours — but  to  no  avail.  The  levees  were 
washed  out  and  the  water  poured  into  the  deep  cut,  filling  it  in  the 
space  of  a  few  hours. 

Railroad  tracks  were  everywhere  washed  out  and  where  they  were 

34 


35 


supported  on  any  quantity  of  wooden  supports,  floated  to  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  twisted  out  of  shape.  Over  5,000  cubic  yards  of  rub- 
bish was  washed  into  the  line  of  the  canal.  The  steam  shovels  were  too 
unwieldly  to  move  and  were  submerged.  The  dinkey  engines  were  all 
run  on  to  high  land  excepting  one  which,  running  through  a  depression 
to  a  place  of  safety,  had  its  firebox  drowned  and  was  left  in  the  cut. 

To  make  matters  worse,  the  next  day  was  cold.  The  wind  blew 
from  the  north  and  the  thermometer  fell  below  zero.  In  a  moment  all 
moisture  was  turned  to  ice  and  all  pools  were  frozen  to  the  depth  of 
many  inches.  From  that  time  on  until  March  loth  it  was  impossible  to 
do  any  kind  of  work,  and  the  completing  of  the  undertaking  was  de- 
layed at  least  three  months. 

It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  no  act  of  the  Sanitary  District  or 
its  employes  could  have  averted  this  flood.  On  the  other  hand  had  the 
contractor  proceeded  with  anything  like  the  dispatch  demanded  by  his 
contract,  the  whole  work  would  have  been  finished  before  the  flood 
came. 

Work  was  not  attempted  until  March  3Oth,  1907,  and  then  a  new 
force  was  gathered  together  and  the  work  put  under  way  as  before. 
The  work  on  section  3  was  finished  on  July  31,  1907.  The  work  at  the 
north  end  would  have  been  finished  as  soon,  or  sooner,  had  k  not  been 
stopped  to  await  the  completion  of  the  "Butterfly  Valve."  On  August 
6,  1907,  the  water  was  let  into  the  tail-race  from  the  southern  end  of 
the  canal.  This  was  done  by  placing  a  large  charge  of  dynamite  in  the 
coffer-dam  separating  the  tail-race  from  the  completed  channel.  Several 
charges  of  dynamite  were  needed  to  open  a  channel  sufficient  to  flow 
in  water  in  any  quantities,  but  the  water,  once  started,  soon  opened  its 
own  way  and  filled  the  tail-race  in  six  hours. 

On  the  same  day  it  was  decided  that  the  butterfly  valve  was  in 
such  condition  that  the  concrete  wrall  separating  the  old  canal  from  the 
new  excavation  could  be  taken  out.  Accordingly,  on  this  day,  a  section 
sixty  feet  wide  and  ten  feet  deep  was  blasted  out.  To  facilitate  the  re- 
moval of  the  concrete  end  of  the  old  channel,  there  had  been  built  a 
coffer-dam  of  clay  and  cribbing,  which  had  been  difficult  of  erection  and 
uncertain  in  behavior.  Between  this  coffer-dam  and  the  butterfly  valve 
a  force  was  put  to  work  blasting  the  rock  and  concrete  and  hauling  the 
same  out  by  the  use  of  derricks.  On  August  26,  1907,  when  the  inter- 
vening wall  was  almost  entirely  removed,  the  engineer  in  immediate 
charge  thought  that  the  coffer-dam  was  giving  way.  Accordingly,  the 
Chief  Engineer  and  the  President  of  the  Board  proceeded  to  the  spot. 
Work  was  continued,  until  about  midnight,  when  the  creaking  of  the 
crib  and  the  increased  cracks  in  the  clay  warned  us  that  it  was  no  longer 
safe  to  keep  the  workmen  in  the  hole.  They  were  ordered  out  and  a 

30 


37 


channel  was  cut  through  the  coffer-dam,  filling  the  new  channel  as  far 
as  the  butterfly  valve  in  less  than  an  hour.  The  butterfly  valve  still 
stood  between  the  waters  of  the  Drainage  Canal  and  the  new  channel. 
The  butterfly  valve  was  opened  on  August  30,  1907,  and  the  water  let 
into  the  three  mile  extension  of  the  waterway  and  the  head-race  of  the 
power  plant.  Under  the  test  of  water  pressure,  considerable  water  seeped 
through  the  concrete  walls,  as  is  customary  with  new  concrete  work.  A 
month's  time  closed  the  walls,  as  expected,  and  left  those  men  who  had 
been  hired  to  criticise  them  before  their  completion  in  a  position  which 
can  bring  them  no  honor. 

Soon  after  the  Duffy  contract  was  taken  over,  Electrical  Engineer 
Ellicott  was  put  in  charge  of  the  construction  of  the  power  house,  lock, 
butterfly  dam  and  fender  walls  of  the  power  plant. 

Power  House. 

Work  was  first  started  on  the  power  house  in  1905,  but  it  was  not 
entirely  completed  until  October  of  this  year.  A  roof  was  placed  on 
the  building  in  the  early  part  of  this  year  and  the  installation  of  ma- 
ctiinery  commenced.  Under  a  supplemental  contract  with  the  Wellman- 
Seaver-Morgan  Co.,  only  three  units  were  installed,  the  fourth  being 
held  in  their  factory  until  such  a  time  as  a  test  can  be  made  for  efficiency 
on  the  three  units  now  completed.  The  understanding  is  that,  if  the 
units  installed  do  not  reach  the  efficiency  guaranteed,  the  fourth  unit 
will  be  rebuilt  and  the  existing  units  changed  and  rebuilt  one  at  a  time. 
The  water  wheels  were  tested  the  first  time  on  September  8,  and  the 
re-adjustment  of  bearings,  with  which  there  was  considerable  trouble, 
was  immediately  started  and  completed  on  the  three  units  on  November 
21,  at  which  time  they  had  been  operated  for  practically  two  weeks  with- 
out shutting  down.  The  plant  was  officially  started  and  the  high  tension 
current  placed  on  the  lines  November  26,  at  2 :2O  P.  M.  Three  units 
are  ready  to  be  placed  in  service. 

Construction  of  Lock,  Dams  and  Fender  Wall. 

The  construction  of  this  work  was  started  in  March,  1906,  and  was 
completed  in  September  of  this  year.  The  first  boat  was  sent  through 
the  lock  on  October  2,  and  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  to  President 
Roosevelt  at  Memphis,  Tenn.  The  12  foot  dam  was  first  operated  on 
October  26.  This  dam  will  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  clearing  ice 
and  other  refuse  which  may  get  into  the  forebay  and  interfere  with  the 
operation  of  the  water  wheel  units.  The  48  foot  dam  was  first  operated 
on  November  12,  and  will  be  used  in  place  of  the  present  bear  trap 
dam  at  the  controlling  works,  and  will  regulate  the  flow  of  water  in 

*    38 


E1" 


39 


the  river  in  conjunction  with  that  used  through  the  water  wheel  units. 
Construction  of  the  fender  wall,  which  is  used  for  the  purpose  of  divert- 
ing ice  and  other  objectionable  floating  matter  from  the  racks  of  the 
water  power  forebays,  was  started  in  March,  1906  and  completed  in 
June. 

Transmission  Line  from  Lockport  to   Chicago. 

A  part  of  this  work  was  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1906,  and  con- 
sisted of  digging  holes  in  the  rock  section.  Work  was  then  stopped 
because  of  the  non-delivery  of  towers  and  was  not  started  again  until 
March  of  1907,  when  the  delivery  of  towers  was  commenced  along  the 
canal.  Numerous  delays  ensued  in  this  work  and  the  construction  of 
the  line  was  not  completed  until  the  loth  of  November.  As  above 
stated,  current  was  turned  on  this  line  November  26. 

Transmission  Line  from  Distributing  Station  to  Oak  Park  and 

Garneld  Park. 

Work  on  this  line  was  started  early  in  the  summer,  and  completed 
ihe  latter  part  of  October,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  stretch  of  the 
Oak  Park  branch  on  which  the  work  has  been  stopped,  pending  some 
further  negotiations  with  the  Village  of  Oak  Park.  A  line  was  also 
built  from  this  line  into  the  Town  of  Cicero.  After  this  line  was  com- 
pleted into  Garfield  Park  station,  the  West  Park  Board  asked  us  to 
further  extend  it  by  building  a  line  into  Douglas  Park  and  Humboldt 
Park,  which  we  have  done. 

Transmission  Line  to  Morgan  Park. 

The  work  on  this  line  was  seriously  delayed  because  of  our  inability 
to  secure  a  permit  from  the  City  of  Chicago,  through  which  a  part  of 
this  line  had  to  be  constructed.  This  matter  was  not  finally  disposed 
of  until  October  26.  Work  was  started  soon  thereafter  and  the  line  has 
been  completed.  A  part  of  this  line  has  been  changed  to  enable  the 
furnishing  of  current  in  the  Stock  Yards,  using  Forty-third  street  for 
the  cross  line. 

Distributing  Station. 

The  building  of  the  distributing  station  was  started  in  October  of 
1906,  but  was  seriously  delayed  by  the  inability  of  the  contractor  to  se- 
cure concrete  blocks,  of  which  the  building  is  constructed.  A  roof  was 
not  placed  on  the  building  until  early  in  April,  and  the  installation  of 
the  machinery  was  immediately  started.  Owing  to  a  part  of  the  ma- 
chinery having  been  in  a  railroad  wreck,  in  which  considerable  damage 
was  done,  the  completion  of  the  electrical  equipment  has  been  seriously 

40 


delayed.  We  are,  however,  prepared  to  deliver  15,000  K.  W.  from  this 
station,  as  the  apparatus  has  been  entirely  completed.  The  electrical 
equipment  in  this  station  will  be  added  to  from  time  to  time  to  provide 
for  additional  customers,  requirements  for  whom  cannot  at  this  time 
be  ascertained. 

ILLINOIS  VALLEY. 

Assistant  Attorney  Walter  E.  Beebe  has  given  his  exclusive  time 
and  attention  during  the  past  year  to  investigating  the  conditions  in  the 
Illinois  valley.  Messrs.  B.  M.  Chiperfield  and  Frank  J.  Quinn  have  at- 
tended to  the  detail  work  in  connection  with  the  cases  pending  in  all 
counties  except  Will  County;  and  Mr.  P.  C.  Haley  has  given  his  atten- 
tion to  the  cases  pending  in  the  latter  county. 

Numerous  conferences  have  been  held  with  the  attorneys  in  each 
of  the  valley  cases  in  order  that  we  may  be  fully  prepared  when  the 
cases  are  called  for  trial.  No  cases  have  been  tried,  outside  of  Will 
County,  during  the  present  year;  but  it  is  quite  likely  that  early  during 
the  coming  year  some  of  the  cases  will  be  pressed.  High  water  con- 
ditions in  the  valley  have  made  it  impossible '  for  the  Engineering  De- 
partment to  complete  its  work  of  preparing  the  evidence  in  all  of  these 
cases,  but  considerable  data  have  been  gathered;  and,  in  view  of  the 
continuance  of  these  cases  a  year  ago  for  the  purpose  of  affording  the 
Engineering  Department  an  opportunity  to  complete  the  work,  we  do 
not  feel  like  asking  for  a  further  continuance  at  this  time  and  are  ex- 
pecting to  try  such  cases  as  the  plaintiffs  may  desire  to  set  down. 

The  organization  of  the  Illinois  Valley  Division  has  not  been  changed 
in  any  degree,  though  its  operations  have  been  seriously  impeded  by  high- 
water  conditions  which  prevailed  during  the  last  twelve  months.  Living 
in  camps  or  in  house-boats,  the  men  have  served  faithfully  and  con- 
ducted themselves  in  a  way  to  gain  the  friendship,  not  the  hostility,  of 
their  neighbors.  The  result  of  their  surveys  have  been  platted,  and  the 
foundations  have  been  laid  for  a  study  of  Illinois  Valley  conditions  far 
more  complete  than  any  before  attempted. 

This  work  is  of  two-fold  value.  First,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
enable  the  Trustees  to  distinguish  between  those  damage  claimants  who 
have  merit  in  their  cause  and  those  who  are  merely  blackmailers.  Sec- 
ond, it  is  building  up  a  mountain  of  information  which  is  essential  to 
the  deep  waterway  movement. 

NORTH  SHORE  CHANNEL. 

During  the  past  year  ordinances  have  been  prepared  by  the  Law  De- 
partment and  submitted  to  the  City  Council  of  Evanston  and  the  Vil- 

42 


43 


lage  Board  of  Wilmette.  After  considerable  negotiation  between  the 
Department,  the  Committee  of  the  City  Council  of  Evanston  and  the 
Committees  of  your  Board,  the  Evanston  City  Council  passed  the  ordi- 
nance submitted  by  us ;  and  the  Village  of  Wilmette  has  recently  passed 
an  ordinance  which  is  now  before  your  Board  for  its  acceptance  or 
rejection. 

A  contract  was  prepared  with  the  Highway  Commissioners  of  the 
Township  of  Niles  granting  to  the  District  the  right  to  cross  certain 
highways  in  said  township  and  defining  the  character  and  number  of 
bridges  to  be  constructed. 

Negotiations  are  now  in  progress  with  the  Chicago  &  Northwest- 
ern Ry.  Co.  looking  towards  an  amicable  agreement  fixing  the  terms 
upon  which  the  Sanitary  District  will  be  permitted  to  construct  its 
North  Shore  Channel  across  the  rights  of  way  of  said  company.  An 
offer  was  made  to  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  Co.,  which 
was  not  accepted,  and  proceedings  to  condemn  are  now  pending  in  con- 
nection with  the  crossing  of  said  company's  right  of  way ;  as  well  as 
the  crossing  of  the  Mayfair  division  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Ry.  Co.,  hereinabove  referred  to. 

Wilmette  Pumping  Station. 

The  preliminary  plans  for  the  Wilmette  pumping  station  have  been 
decided  upon  and  many  of  the  details  completed.  The  specifications  are 
in  course  of  preparation  and  bids  for  the  work  will  be  asked  for  within 
the  next  thirty  days.  This  will  comprise  the  building,  pumps,  electric 
motors  for  driving  the  same  and  the  transmission  line  from  the  sub- 
station to  Wilmette.  This  transmission  line  is  being  designed  to  supply 
current  to  several  villages  on  the  north  shore,  with  whom  negotiations 
are  in  progress. 

As  soon  as  legislation  was  secured  guaranteeing  finances  sufficient 
for  digging  the  Evanston- Wilmette  canal  the  undertaking  was  attacked 
aggressively.  The  property  in  the  right  of  way  was  appraised  by  three 
competent  men  and  negotiations  were  begun  by  the  Finance  Committee 
for  the  purchase  of  the  property.  The  actual  work  of  negotiation  was 
carried  on  by  the  Finance  Committee,  whose  unselfish  efforts  have 
brought  the  most  satisfactory  results. 

In  eight  months  it  purchased  38  per  cent  of  the  right  of  way.  a 
showing  which  is  all  the  more  remarkable  when  it  is  considered  that 
this  necessitated  108  separate  transactions,  which  are  about  one-half 
the  transactions  necessary  to  purchase  the  entire  property.  This  show- 
ing would  have  been  greatly  exceeded  had  not  the  financial  panic  made 

44 


44,000  Volt  Transmission   Line 


45 


it  advisable  temporarily  to  stop  cash  payments.  In  the  meantime, 
the  Engineering  Department  had  not  been  idle.  Test  pits  have  been 
dug  at  frequent  intervals  throughout  the  line  of  the  canal  and  the  qual- 
ity of  sub-soil  exposed.  At  the  east  end  a  great  test  pit  one  hundred 
feet  square  has  been  dug,  in  connection  with  other  work,  which  test  pit 
is  of  great  value  to  the  general  work. 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  contract  with  the  City  of  Evanston, 
all  the  spoil  excavated  from  the  canal  east  of  the  Northwestern  tracks 
in  that  city  must  be  removed.  Several  plans  of  removal  were  studied 
and  it  was  determined  that  the  best  plan  would  be  one  whereby  the  spoil 
should  be  dumped  in  the  lake  at  the  mouth  of  the  channel,  forming  at 
once  a  breakwater  for  the  protection  of  the  intake,  an  area  of  land 
thirty  acres  in  extent,  which  can  readily  be  turned  into  a  park.  Studies 
were  made  to  ascertain  how  extensive  a  breakwater  would  be  needed  to 
protect  the  channel  mouth.  No  useful  information  could  be  obtained 
and  it  was  determined  to  experiment  by  running  a  short  jetty  into  the 
lake  and  depositing  spoil  to  the  north  side  of  the  jetty.  This  jetty  was 
successfully  built  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  encountered  from  the  lack 
of  plant.  The  result  is  more  creditable  from  comparison  with  the  work 
done  at  Waukegan  on  the  Naval  Training  Station,  where  a  similar  jetty 
was  washed  away  during  construction.  The  spoil  dumped  to  the  north 
of  the  District's  jetty  was  from  the  great  test  pit  located  at  the  mouth 
of  the  channel.  So,  by  the  same  work,  three  important  objects  were  at- 
tained, viz :  a  test  pit  of  conclusive  proportions  was  dug,  a  sufficient 
amount  of  spoil  for  experimental  purposes  was  deposited  in  the  lake 
and  a  not  inconsiderable  amount  of  channel  was  excavated. 

The  effect  this  work  has  had  upon  the  lake  bottom  has  been  dif- 
ferent from  what  one  would  be  led  to  expect  and  makes  certain  one 
thing,  viz:  that  to  lay  out  a  definite  plan  for  a  breakwater  at  this  time 
would  be  folly. 

It  is  only  by  feeling  our  way  and  being  guided  by  experience 
gained  from  day  to  day  that  we  will  be  able  to  construct  this  breakwater 
properly  and  without  great  loss  of  money  due  to  the  uncertainty  as 
to  the  form  this  breakwater  must  take ;  it  is  impossible  to  draw  speci- 
fications covering  the  work  and,  therefore,  it  becomes  impossible  to  do 
this  work  by  contract. 

If  this  work  cannot  be  done  by  contract,  it  follows  logically  that 
the  excavation  of  the  canal  east  of  the  Northwestern  tracks  in  Evans- 
ton,  which  excavation  must  be  dumped  behind  the  breakwater,  cannot 
be  done  by  contract.  And  here  it  may  be  said  in  passing  that  the  com- 
plications which  are  bound  to  arise  in  building  the  canal  through  a  well 
built  city,  where  sewer  and  water  pipes,  gas  pipes  and  electric  conduits- 
are  laid,  and  where  many  bridges  must  be  built,  are  more  than  any  en 

46 


•47 


gineer  can  provide  lor.  As  each  unexpected  complication  wiii  bring 
an  additional  charge  from  the  contractor  for  extra  work,  it  is  unques- 
tionably a  fact  that  the  extra  charges  will  amount  to  a  greater  sum 
than  any  advocate  of  contract  work  would  claim  can  be  saved  to  the 
District  by  the  skill  of  any  contractor. 

West  of  the  Northwestern  tracks  the  work  will  be  plain  excava- 
tion with  few,  if  any,  complications ;  work  which  can  be  set  forth  in 
specifications.  I,  therefore,  recommend  that  this  work  be  advertised  for 
contract  and  awarded,  if  fair  bids  are  received  from  proper  contracting 
firms. 

By  unique  arrangement,  6^4  per  cent  of  the  work  is  being  done 
without  cost  of  any  kind  to  the  District.  It  so  happened  that  the  line 
of  the  proposed  channel  ran  through  the  property  of  the  National  Brick 
Company.  Negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  the  right  of  way  in  this 
locality  developed  into  a  contract  whereby  the  Sanitary  District  ob- 
tained the  right  of  way  required  for  the  canal,  excavated  by  the  Brick 
company  to  a  depth  of  16  feet  by  one  mile  in  length,  giving  in  return 
a  lease  on  the  canal  bank  when  finished,  and  giving  to  the  brick  com- 
pany all  clay  soil  excavated  along  half  the  length  of  the  canal.  Inas- 
much as  this  spoil  should  be  removed,  the  contract  is  a  most  fortunate 
one  for  the  District. 


CONTRACT  WORK  VS.  DAY  LABOR. 

The  question  whether  public  work  is  better  done  by  contract  or 
by  day  labor  is  one  upon  which  students  of  municipal  affairs  differ. 
The  question  is  made  harder  of  determination  because  the  advocates  of 
each  plan  frequently  juggle  their  figures  and  misrepresent  facts.  If  it 
should  be  admitted  that  contractors  can  do  work  better  and  more  econ- 
omically than  can  municipalities,  there  arises  the  question,  will  the  con- 
tractors do  the  work  better  than  the  municipalities  can?  They  will  not 
unless  they  have  to  do  so.  Contractors  are  not  free  from  the  failings  of 
the  human  race  and,  as  there  is  imposed  upon  them  no  responsibility 
to  keep  down  the  cost  of  public  construction,  they  naturally  take  as 
much  for  their  services  as  they  can  get.  Responsibility  for  efficient  and 
cheap  public  work  rests  upon  public  officials.  In  the  past,  they  have 
tried  to  accomplish  these  objects  by  calling  for  competitive  bids;  but 
combinations,  legal  and  otherwise,  control  in  all  public  bidding.  The 
only  competition  that  can  be  brought  to  bear  on  contractors  is  the  com- 
petition of  the  municipality  itself,  and  this  competition  can  only  be  ef- 
fective when  the  municipality  is  equipped  to  do  its  own  work  without 
the  intervention  of  the  contractor.  For  this  reason,  I  have  felt  that  the 

48 


40 


Sanitary  District  of  Chicago  should  equip  itself  with  a  plant  suitable  to 
the  kind  of  work  that  is  before  it. 

The  District  is  absolutely  without  any  plant  for  dredging-  or  work 
in  water.  I  believe  that  we  should  proceed  to  acquire  a  complete  dredg- 
ing outfit  and  am  confident  that,  even  if  this  plant  is.  never  used  for  doing 
work,  the  saving  in  amounts  paid  to  contractors  will  cover  the  expense 
of  this  plant  in  a  short  time. 

ELECTRICAL   DEPARTMENT. 

In  the  past  year  the  City  of  Chicago,  Town  of.  Cicero  and  the 
West  Park  Board  have  contracted  with  the  Sanitary  District  for  light- 
ing at  the  rate  of  $15.00  per  horse-power,  a  rate  highly  advantageous 
to  those  bodies  and  one  under  which  the  Sanitary  District  can  live. 
The  advantages  of  this  arrangement  are  so  unquestionably  great  to 
all  the  municipalities  within  the*  Sanitary  District  we  may  expect  all 
of  them  to  ask  for  electricity  for  lighting  within  the  next  twelve 
months,  even  where  our  most  persistent  efforts  have  been  unable  to 
elicit  any  response  as  yet.  Unquestionably  all  power  used  within  the 
Sanitary  District  for  municipal  purposes  should  be  taken  from  the 
power  plant  of  the  Sanitary  District.  It  is  absurd  for  the  city  to  go 
to  the  expense,  and  the  trouble  and  encounter  all  the  opportunities  of 
corruption  offered  in  producing  power  by  steam,  when  there  is  available 
a  cheaper  power  already  developed  by  the  great  canal,  which  power, 
when  not  taken  for  municipal  purposes,  must  be  sold  to  the  public  with 
•disadvantage  similar  to  those  of  producing  power  by  steam. 

However,  until  the  municipalities  avail  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity herein  set  forth,  there  remains  in  the  hands  of  your  Board  a 
valuable  asset  which  must  be  realized  on  to  its  fullest  extent.  The  mar- 
keting of  electric  power  on  terms  equitable  to  all  consumers  in  a  way 
to  bring  the  greatest  possible  revenue  to  the  District  is  complicated  in 
the  extreme.  However,  it  must  be  gone  at  courageously,  with  the 
knowledge  that  if  mistakes  are  made  in  the  beginning,  they  can  be  rec- 
tified ;  but  failure  to  make  aggressive  effort  to  do  right  can  have  no 
excuse  whatever.  The  marketing  of  this  power  will  have  the  further 
advantage  of  bringing  to  your  body  in  time  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  electric  power  industry,  which  knowledge  when  furnished  to  the 
City  Council  of  Chicago  and  other  municipalities  within  the  District 
will  be  of  valuable  assistance  to  them  in  regulating  the  business  of  the 
public  service  corporations. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  advisable  to  urge  the  City  Council 
to  take  no  binding  action  fixing  the  rates  of  the  Edison  and  Common- 
wealth companies  until  it  may  be  guided  by  your  experience. 

50 


CHEMICAL  AND  BACTERIOLOGICAL  LABORATORY. 

The  effect  of  the  Drainage  Canal  upon  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Chicago  river,  also  the  Desplaines  and  Illinois  rivers,  is  con- 
stantly a  matter  of  discussion.  Arguments  are  supported  by  scientific 
works,  based  upon  experience  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Nothing 
can  be  more  vain  than  such  discussion,  so  long  as  it  is  possible  to  ac- 
curately determine  the  exact  effect  of  the  Drainage  Canal  by  observa- 
tion. Therefore,  there  has  been  formed  a  chemical  and  bacteriological 
laboratory  in  the  new  warehouse  with  a  chemist  and  bacteriologist, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  make  exhaustive  experiments  and  analyses.  By 
the  time  I  write  my  next  year's  message,  I  expect  to  incorporate  a  re- 
port from  him,  which  will  be  not  only  instructive,  but  of  great  practical 
value. 

SALARIES. 

The  pay  of  employes  of  public  bodies  is  generally  inequitable,  not 
being  properly  based  upon  the  services  performed.  Generally  speak- 
ing, I  believe  that  the  services  should  be  classified  with  a  certain  re- 
muneration for  each  class,  and  that  increases  of  pay  should  be  made 
by  means  of  promotion.  Of  course,  employes  who  have  had  much  ex- 
perience in  one  class  of  work  become  more  valuable  than  new  ap- 
pointees and  cases  frequently  arise  when  their  pay  should  be  increased, 
even  if  corresponding  promotion  does  not  come.  However,  when  a 
person  who  has  thus  had  his  salary  increased,  is  promoted  or  leaves  the 
service,  the  new  appointee  who  fills  the  vacancy  should  be  paid  the 
smaller,  not  the  larger  salary. 

The  efficiency  of  every  department  is  absolutely  dependent  upon 
the  efficiency  of  the  heads  of  departments.  The  Sanitary  District 
must  make  its  services  sufficiently  attractive  to  keep  competent  depart- 
ment heads.  The  salaries,  therefore,  of  these  department  heads  must 
be  graded  according  to  the  abilities  of  the  men  and  the  responsibility 
of  their  positions.  During  the  next  three  years  I  expect  to  recommend 
to  your  Honorable  Body  material  increases  in  the  salaries  of  the  depart- 
ment heads. 

FINISHING  THE  WORK. 

It  must  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that  the  Sanitary  District  of 
Chicago  is  not  a  permanent  institution.  It  was  organized  to  do  a  specific 
work  and,  when  that  specific  work  is  ended,  it  should  not  be  continued, 
to  fall  into  disrepute  and  disuse,  as  other  similar  bodies  have  done.  Upon 
you  devolves  the  duty  of  arranging  its  affairs  so  that  it  may  most  easily 
be  taken  over  by  some  other  body. 

Various  plans  of  ending  the  District  have  been  suggested.     I  will 

51 


mention  but  two.  First,  it  is  suggested  that  the  Sanitary  District  be 
combined  with  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  Commission  and  that 
some  of  the  Trustees  shall  be  appointed  from  without  the  boundaries  of 
the  District.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  intended  that  the  taxpayers  of  the 
Sanitary  District  shall  pay  all  the  taxes,  this  suggestion  becomes  pre- 
posterous. With  a  property  upon  which  over  fifty  millions  of  dollars 
have  been  spent  and  upon  which,  in  the  course  of  time,  fifty  million 
dollars  more  will  be  expended,  with  legal  rights  which  must  be  scrupul- 
ously guarded  against  the  inroads  of  too  aggressive  water  power  com- 
panies, and  docks  which  are  looked  at  with  greedy  eyes,  it  is  essential 
that  the  guardians  of  this  wealth  must  at  all  times  be  directly  responsible 
to  the  owners  of  the  property.  To  place  in  charge  of  this  estate  men 
not  responsible  to  its  owners  would  be  to  invite  embezzlement.  Let  the 
navigable  feature  be  separated  from  the  sanitary  and  financial  features 
and  let  it  be  turned  over  to  the  state  or  federal  authorities.  The  others 
must  always  be  held  by  home  people. 

The  proper  solution  then  seems  to  be  this : 

Let  the  present  form  of  organization  complete  the  original  drainage 
scheme,  which  includes  the  draining  of  the  Evanston  and  Calumet  addi- 
tions, the  widening  of  the  Chicago  river  and  the  main  channel,  and  the 
extending  of  the  main  channel  to  its  proper  terminus  at  Lake  Joliet. 
From  this  point  on,  the  state  and  federal  governments  should  take  charge 
and  carry  the  deep  waterway  through  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  When  all 
constructions  have  been  completed,  there  will  remain  merely  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  property  and  the  payment  of  outstanding  bonds.  These 
can  be  attended  to  by  executive  officers  to  be  appointed  in  some  way 
which  the  future  will  determine. 

Before  that  time  comes,  your  Board  should  have  developed  a  policy 
in  the  Electrical  and  Real  Estate  departments  which  will  guarantee  the 
utmost  progressiveness  in  increasing  the  revenues  while  guarding  ab- 
solutely against  any  corruption,  inequality  of  compensation  for  similar 
service,  or  any  form  of  abuse.  The  proceeds  will  go  to  the  payment  of 
the  outstanding  debt  and  by  the  time  the  debt  is  paid,  it  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  Chicago  will  have  extended  its  boundaries  to  the  limits  of 
the  present  Sanitary  District. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

ROBERT  R.  McCoRMicx, 

President. 


INDEX 

Page 

Calumet   Channel 3 

Chemical  and  Bacteriological  Laboratory 51 

Chicago  River 30 

Clerical    Department '. 26 

Contract  vs.  Day  Labor 48 

Distributing    Station 40 

Electrical  Department 50 

Extension  of  Main  Channel 32 

Finishing  the  Work 51 

Illinois    Valley 42 

Law    Department 16 

Legislation  9 

Locks,  Dam  and  Fender  Walls 38 

North  Shore  Channel 42 

Police    Department 25 

Real  Estate  Department 28 

Salaries     51 

State  Legislation 9 

South  Branch  of  Chicago  River 30 

Transmission   Lines 40 

Water    Power 10 

Wilmette  Pumping  Station 44 


c<  ex  CD 

CGM'5 


BK 


